Ixii 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



there was to tell us that animated nature had 

 not entirely abandoned the parts through which 

 we were travelling. 



I had a little adventure on the road from 

 Baccano to Rome not worth relating, but which 

 I deem necessary to be introduced here in 

 order that some of my friends in the latter city, 

 and others in England, may not give me credit 

 for an affair which deserves no credit at all. 

 These good friends had got it into their heads 

 that I had reached Rome after walking bare- 

 foot for nearly twenty miles, in order to show 

 my respect and reverence for the sacred capital 

 of the Christian world. Would that my motive 

 had been as pure as represented ! The sanctity 

 of the churches, the remains of holy martyrs 

 which enrich them, the relics of canonised 

 saints placed in such profusion throughout them, 

 might well induce a Catholic traveller to adopt 

 this easy and simple mode of showing his re- 

 ligious feeling. But unfortunately, the idea 

 never entered my mind at the time ; I had no 

 other motives than those of easy walking and of 

 self-enjoyment. The affair which caused the 

 talk, took place as follows. 



We had arrived at Baccano in the evening, 



